Bitcoin and ether fell sharply after escalating geopolitical tensions rattled global markets, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning Iran that the “clock is ticking,” sparking a surge in oil prices and widespread liquidations across crypto.
Bitcoin (BTC) came under pressure at the start of CME futures trading late Sunday (23:00 UTC), declining around 2.4% to near $76,500 — its lowest level since April 30. The drop followed Trump’s social media comments urging Iran to act quickly or face severe consequences, which weighed on broader risk sentiment.
Brent crude briefly surged above $112 per barrel following the remarks, while risk assets across the board moved lower. U.S. equity futures also slipped, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts falling 0.3% and 0.25%, respectively.
Ether (ETH) underperformed bitcoin, sliding roughly 3.5% to around $2,116, erasing gains from April’s rally as liquidations accelerated.
Derivatives data pointed to forced deleveraging rather than fresh positioning. Total futures trading volume jumped 65% to $159 billion over 24 hours, while open interest dipped 1.48% to $125 billion. Liquidations surged 500% to $677 million, highlighting the scale of the unwind.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) stood out, with open interest rising 13% to 1.47 million coins — the highest level since early April — even as funding rates plunged to an annualized minus 72%, the most negative among major tokens. Combined with sharply negative cumulative volume delta (CVD), this suggests a crowded short trade that could reverse quickly if sentiment improves.
In contrast, Zcash (ZEC) showed relative strength. Open interest climbed for a third consecutive day, surpassing 2 million tokens, while CVD remained strongly positive, driven by aggressive buying. Funding rates held at a modest 4%, indicating positioning is not overheated. Despite a recent pullback, ZEC remains up 111% this quarter, with further upside possible if market conditions stabilize.
Elsewhere, tokens such as HYPE, CRO, and TON also recorded gains in open interest, while BTC and ETH positioning remained largely unchanged over the past 24 hours.
Broadly, selling pressure dominated the market. Excluding a handful of tokens like ZEC, TON, and HYPE, all other top 25 cryptocurrencies posted negative 24-hour CVDs, confirming that declines were driven by aggressive selling rather than passive flows.
Volatility indicators also ticked higher. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility index rose to 42% from 40% earlier in May, maintaining its inverse relationship with spot prices. Meanwhile, the MOVE index — a key measure of U.S. Treasury market volatility — jumped 14% on Friday, its largest single-day increase since late March, signaling rising global financial stress.
Options markets suggest traders are bracing for larger moves ahead. On Deribit, block trades were skewed toward BTC straddles, indicating expectations of significant price swings in either direction and a view that current implied volatility may be underpriced.
Altcoins underperformed major cryptocurrencies, with assets such as BCH and Dogecoin dropping 10% and 4.5%, respectively, since the start of Monday trading. Weakness in memecoins dragged the broader segment lower, with related indices posting the steepest losses.
Other crypto benchmarks also declined, including DeFi and large-cap indices, reflecting the broader risk-off environment.
Despite the downturn, a few tokens bucked the trend. Thorchain (RUNE) rose 3.8% as it recovered from last week’s exploit, while layer-1 token KAIA extended its gains, climbing 1.6% on the day and 3.5% over the past 24 hours. Trading activity in KAIA surged, with daily volume nearly tripling to $53 million.
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